DISPERSAL OF EUCALYPTUS-TORELLIANA SEEDS BY THE RESIN-COLLECTING STINGLESS BEE, TRIGONA-CARBONARIA

Ants are the only group of invertebrates currently identified as signi ficant dispersers of seeds, but we report here the dispersal of Eucaly ptus torelliana seeds by bees. Fruits of E. torelliana produce resin w hich is collected by workers of the stingless bee Trigona cnp bonaria. Seeds adhere to resin in the workers' corbiculae and are transported to the nest. Workers transported seeds distances of more than 300 m fr om the parent tree and seeds at the nest were viable and capable of ge rmination. Seeds were removed from the nests by workers and discarded away from the nest, and E. torelliana trees became established in the vicinity of colonies of T. carbonaria. 'Mellitochory' may be a novel m ethod of seed dispersal where bees are dispersers, and associated with fruits that produce resin as an attractant for bees.